Related papers: The Perils of Pdot
Binary stars make up a significant portion of all stellar systems. Consequently, an understanding of the bulk properties of binary stars is necessary for a full picture of star formation. Binary surveys indicate that both multiplicity…
We calculate the joint period-spindown (P-Pdot) distributions of millisecond radio pulsars (MSRP) for the standard evolutionary model in order to test whether the observed MSRPs are the unequivocal descendants of millisecond X-ray pulsars…
We report a long-term study of the eclipse times in the 10-minute helium binary ES Ceti. The binary period increases rapidly, with P/P-dot = 6.2x10^6 yr. This is consistent with the assumption that gravitational radiation (GR) drives the…
We have conducted timing observations of the eclipsing millisecond binary pulsar PSR~B1957+20, extending the span of data on this pulsar to more than five years. During this time the orbital period of the system has varied by roughly…
Intermediate polars are a class of cataclysmic variables in which a white dwarf accretes material from a companion star. The intermediate polar nature confirmation usually derives from the detection of two periods in both $X$-ray and…
The Kepler planet candidates are an interesting testbed for planet formation scenarios. We present results from N-body simulations of multi-planetary systems that resemble those observed by Kepler. We add both smooth (Type I/II) and…
A common remark at conferences and meetings has been: "One can fit any light curve with binary lens models because of the large number of parameters!" It is especially tempting to claim that some of the possible binary events in the…
We present VLT spectroscopy and NTT photometry of the faint cataclysmic binary SDSS J003941.06+005427.5. This object shows triple-peaked H-alpha emission with all three peaks variable in both strength and velocity. We measure an orbital…
We analyzed a Kepler light curve of KIC 8751494, a recently recognized novalike cataclysmic variable in the Kepler field. We detected a stable periodicity of 0.114379(1) d, which we identified as being the binary's orbital period. The…
Evolution of binary objects under the influence of tides drastically affects the expected observational properties of the system. With the discovery of a large number of close-in hot Jupiter systems and eclipsing binaries from missions such…
We present the results of a systematic study of cataclysmic variables (CVs) and related systems, combining detailed binary-population synthesis (BPS) models with a grid of 120 binary evolution sequences calculated with a Henyey-type stellar…
We report on the results of a spectroscopic and photometric study of a new cataclysmic variable, identified as optical counterpart of the X-ray source RX J1554.2+2721 detected by ROSAT. The spectroscopic observations of the relatively…
Constraints from surveys of post common envelope binaries (PCEBs) consisting of a white dwarf plus an M-dwarf companion have led to significant progress in our understanding of the formation of close white dwarf binary stars with low-mass…
We obtained time-series radial velocity spectroscopy of twenty cataclysmic variable stars, with the aim of determining orbital periods P_orb. All of the stars reported here prove to have P_orb > 3.5 h. For sixteen of the stars, these are…
Observations of the accretion powered millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 have revealed an interesting binary evolution, with the orbit of the system expanding at an accelerated rate. We use the recent finding that the accreted fuel in SAX…
Post-common envelope binary systems evolve when matter is transferred from the primary star at a rate that cannot be accommodated by its secondary companion. A common envelope forms which is subsequently ejected resulting in a system with a…
We investigate the properties of 367 ultra-short period binary candidates selected from 31,000 sources recently identified from Catalina Surveys data. Based on light curve morphology, along with WISE, SDSS and GALEX multi-colour photometry,…
We suggest a new mechanism to account for the loss of angular momentum in binaries with non-conservative mass exchange. It is shown that in some cases the loss of matter can result in increase of the orbital angular momentum of a binary. If…
Unexpected sign, significant magnitude and time-variation of frequency second derivative exist not only in singular radio pulsars but also in Soft Gamma repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs). This paper shows that the these…
Context. Period variations have been detected in a number of eclipsing close compact binary subdwarf B stars (sdBs) and these have often been interpreted as caused by circumbinary massive planets or brown dwarfs. Various evolutionary…